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The top official of the Grossmont Healthcare District has been granted a new three-year contract, retroactive to Dec. 1, which includes a 4 percent raise in each year of the agreement.

The increase by December 2012 will push Chief Executive Barry Jantz’s base salary to more than $206,000 a year from the current $183,150.

The base pay does not include more than $65,000 a year that Jantz collects in deferred compensation and other benefits.

“He’s had many many more duties to handle with the GO (general obligation) bond,” said Deborah McElravy, president of the Grossmont Healthcare board of directors. “And we’re getting ready to issue our second set of bonds, so Barry has a lot on his plate.”

Jantz is a former La Mesa City Council member who has been politically active in San Diego County for years. Apart from running the health care agency, he writes for the Flash Report, a conservative blog.

Jantz sent an e-mail to The Watchdog stating his appreciation for the board’s recognition of his increased workload.

His new contract runs through Dec. 1, 2013, McElravy said.

The Grossmont Healthcare District is one of four public health care districts in San Diego County, although it delivers no direct services to residents of the East County.

The organization leased the medical center to another operator, Sharp Healthcare, in 1991. The district also collects property taxes from within its 750-square-mile territory.

The district awards grants to other health-related community projects and administers a voter-approved bond to improve the facility.

Jantz’s raise was approved on Friday. At the same meeting, the board members rejected 13 grant applications, including bids from Alzheimer’s Association, Survivors of Torture International and the Center for Community Solutions.

McElravy said the decision to reject some grant applications is not related to the board vote to pay Jantz a higher salary.

“It’s another bucket” of money, she said.

The board oversees an annual budget of just over $31 million and serves approximately 500,000 residents of the East County.